How to properly store paintings and artwork is quite a popular topic amongst art enthusiasts and collectors. Paintings and other pieces of artwork require special conditions when stored in order to prevent damage due to heat, cold, wet, humid, or dry conditions. If your art isn’t stored properly it can become damaged and dramatically decrease in value.

Where should you store your art?

If you’re unable to keep the painting or artwork up on your walls, then the second best place to store them is in a self-storage unit. As you probably already guessed, you’ll need a climate-controlled self-storage unit. Climate-controlled storage is heated during the winter months and kept cool in the summer so as to maintain a constant, moderate temperature level throughout the year. climate-controlled self-storage units provide a dry, comfortable, dust-controlled environment. The importance of maintaining appropriate humidity levels cannot be stressed enough; when fragile canvases are exposed to heat and humidity over a period of time, it causes them to warp in shape. They can tighten, stretch, or slacken causing cracking and paint flaking off with time.

As most people already know, high levels of humidity are also known to create the perfect environments for mould and mildew to grow. In order to prevent damage resulting from temperature and moisture, ensure that the storage unit you select has a consistent 22 degrees Celsius and 55% humidity. In addition to climate-control.

Tips For Storing Artwork

Here are some helpful tips from storage professionals on how to properly store paintings and artwork to avoid permanent damage.

First, choose a climate-controlled self-storage unit that is in an area that has the least amount of foot traffic. Although storage facilities aren’t exactly packed with people on a regular basis, having a storage unit with the least amount of human traffic can reduce the chances of any sort of human error.

Next, you’ll need to wrap your artwork. Bear in mind, there are different methods for wrapping art depending on if it’s framed or unframed. For framed pieces, you’ll want to wrap it with bubble wrap and secure it with packing tape. Then, use a storage blanket or a quilted blanket to tightly wrap around the art piece. Ensure that your blanket is clean, dust-free, and dry. Use packing tape to secure the blanket around the art piece.

For unframed art pieces, use a sheet of silicone release paper to cover the front of the canvas and then wrap using glassine paper. Padding is especially important for unframed pieces. Pad the front and back of the art pieces using pieces of cardboard and wrap using a quilted blanket or bubble wrap. Secure everything using packing tape.

When your precious packages are packed and ready for storage, they will need to be stacked properly. You don’t want anything heavy sitting on top of your art pieces, nor do you want to stack multiple art pieces on top of each other, even if they’re padded and wrapped. Over time, the weight can slowly warp the piece. You’ll want to store each art piece separately. However, if you lack storage space, you should consider a painting rack to store them all together and in individual rows. For long-term storage, you should place your artwork on acid-free boards or paper and then lay on a flat surface.

In all cases, you should always prepare for unforeseen circumstances by having valuable pieces of art insured. Normally, you could do this through your home insurance policy; however, if you are storing your art offsite at a self-storage facility, you may want to contact your insurance company and ask what steps should be taken to ensure your art remains insured. You have control over how you protect your art and how you store it, but there are always things that can’t be predicted.

Storing Your Art at Jiffy Self-Storage

Jiffy Self-Storage is one of the most reliable and trusted self-storage facilities in the GTA. Some clients have even been choosing to store their trusted belongings with us for over 20 years. At our storage facility we have several layers of security that complement each other and come together to paint our total security picture:

Cameras: There are 32 cameras strategically placed throughout our facility. Our camera system is viewed by the site manager on an oversized screen near his workstation. In addition to this, the cameras are tied into a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) which allows us to check back and view any suspicious behaviour.

Computer Controlled Access System: The only people granted access to our facility are Jiffy customers. When you move in we generate an access code for you and that is the only way you can get in. Our computer also logs the various access codes with a date stamp so we can look back to see if there was an unauthorized access to the building.

Alarm System: Jiffy is protected by a monitored alarm system. We utilize our access system to ensure that the building is empty every night by 10:00 pm.

Lights: An effective criminal deterrent as well as for the safety of customers.

For more information about climate-controlled self-storage units call Jiffy Self-Storage at (416) 745-4339 or contact us here.